Gaslighting in the Medical Literature

Have you felt that your sense of reality has been challenged lately? That the word “truth” has no meaning any more? Does the existence ofalternative facts make you question your own sanity? In modern usage, the termgaslighting refers to  “a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented to the victim with the intent of making him/her doubt his/her own memory and perception”.Gaslighting is a form of manipulation that seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or members of a group, hoping to make targets question their own memory, perception, and sanity. Using persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying, it attempts to destabilize the target and delegitimize the target ' s belief.In December 2016, the amazingLauren Duca1wrote a widely shared piece forTeen Vogue,Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America. In it, she argued that Trump won the election by normalizing deception. Duca noted that the termgaslighting originated from the 1938 playGas Light by Patrick Hamilton, and explained it in this way:" Gas lighting " is a buzzy name for a terrifying strategy currently being used to weaken and blind the American electorate. We are collectively being treated like Bella Manningham in the 1938 Victorian thriller from which the term " gas light " takes its name. In the play, Jack terrorizes his wife Bella into questioning her reality by blaming her for mischievously misplacing household items which he systematically hides. Doubting wh...
Source: The Neurocritic - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Source Type: blogs